


Not Your Job

by Kristanella17



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Mention of blood, Minor Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, adrienette - Freeform, injured ladybug, love square
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-10 12:26:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13501656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kristanella17/pseuds/Kristanella17
Summary: It's normally not Ladybug's job to take a hit during their battles, but this time it happens without Chat's knowledge.  The events that follow after Ladybug's been injured and the miraculous cure doesn't heal her.Warning: Mention of blood and minor injury; takes place 4 years after getting their miraclulouses.





	1. Chapter 1

"Ladybug?!" Chat yelled in a panic as he searched a local rooftop for his partner. He had watched as she desperately threw her yo-yo in that direction while keeping one hand clutched to her stomach after calling for the miraculous cure. It was unlike her to leave so abruptly, without even doing their congratulatory fist bump. Something had to be wrong.

"LB, where are you?" Chat shouted again. This time he was met with a weak voice calling out for him in reply. The frailty of the voice caused his heart to drop to his stomach.

"Over here," Chat heard from behind the chimney. Rushing to her, Chat found his partner propped up against the chimney with her hand cupped to her stomach; her fingers stained with a crimson red liquid.

"Hey Kitty," she greeted softly with a weak smile. His brows furrowed in disbelief as he took light steps towards her.

"No," he gasped, kneeling down next to her. "We need to get you to the hospital," Chat said urgently as he moved to pick her up only to be stopped with a steady hand on his forearm.

"I'm about to transform back, Chat, and I don't need to bring any suspicious attention to my civilian self," Ladybug explained, letting her thumb carass his arm from underneath her grip. Chat, for once, sat speechless as he looked down at his injured partner. Sensing his shock, Ladybug decided to continue.

"But I could use your help," she whispered, feeling more vulnerable than ever before in her career as a superhero. Before he could reply, a series of beeps sounded from her earrings.

"I'm sorry you have to find out this way, Chaton" Ladybug whispered solemnly as the last beep sounded.

Chat could only stare at the young woman in front of him as his thoughts ran wild. He was going to find out his lady's identity. Under any other circumstance, he would be absolutely elated but this wasn't right. This reveal wasn't by choice.

A bright pink flash of light engulfed the teenage girl, beginning at her toes and moving up her body. Chat quickly shut his eyes before he could make out any important details while her weakened kawami slowly made her way into Marinette's trusty purse.

"No," Chat said firmly, "you didn't want this. I won't look, my lady."

His words made Marinette's heart swell with pride. She knew he had been dying to figure out her identity for quite some time now, and finally when she was sitting barefaced directly in front of him, he chose not to look.

"It's ok, Chat," she whispered fondly as she lifted her hand from his arm to run her now bare fingertips across his cheek. "You can look. You have to so you can help me," her voice now becoming hoarse from exhaustion. Marinette kept her eyes focused on Chat's face, trying to ignore the warm liquid that slowly puddled into the hand resting on her stomach.

Slowly, Marinette watched as his bright green eyes began to peek out from underneath blackclad eyelids. Chat held his breath as he took in every detail of his partner sitting in front of him. He couldn't help but think how familiar the pink capris looked. Her once white shirt was now stained crimson around her injury.

"Marinette?!" Chat gasped as his eyes shot wide open in shock. If she hadn't of felt so woozy, Marinette might have cared enough to blush at his reaction, but the blood loss was beginning to take its toll.

"Can we talk about this later, Chat? I need to get home," Marinette replied tiredly. Chat immediately snapped back into hero mode, his eyes narrowing in determination. With one gentle swoop, Chat scooped Marinette up into his arms as he had done many times before, but this time was different. This time the girl in his arms wasn't his close friend, but instead, the girl he had been pining desperately after for years.

Chat reached Marinette's balcony in record time, landing as softly as possible. He assisted her through the skylight window, helping to gently lower her onto the bed below. Marinette had never felt more relieved to be back in her bedroom. She laid back comfortably in her bed as Chat made his way down to the lower part of the room.

"Do you have a first aid kit, Marinette?" he asked as he began to shamelessly rummage through her belongings.

In his search, Chat couldn't help but notice the three small picture frames resting on her desk. The first picture was of a group of their friends while out at the park one day after class. The second was of Alya, Nino, Marinette, and himself as Adrien. It was taken during one of their trips to The Louvre. But the middle picture was the one he was most interested in. It showed himself as Adrien dressed in his fencing attire with his arm draped around Marinette's shoulders. A bright red flush stained her cheeks, and she looked mid-giggle when the photo was taken. He remembered that day vividly. It was the day he made finalist of a fencing competition, and while his father wasn't there to cheer for him, his friends never let him down. He was smiling fondly at the picture when he heard her reply.

"It's in the middle dresser drawer on the left," Marinette answered. Chat was quick to retrieve it before returning to her side on the bed. He couldn't help but notice how clammy and pale his friend looked as she rested with her eyes closed.

"I need to see what we're working with," Chat whispered, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. With a half-lidded gaze, Marinette looked down and inched her shirt up just enough to reveal the slash to her stomach. To her surprise, Chat let out a breath of relief.

"It's not as bad as it looked with the red suit," he decided to answer her unspoken question. "This will sting a bit, Bug," Chat warned softly, using one of his familiar pet names for her, hoping it would somehow bring a bit of comfort. Marinette gave a weak nod to let him know she heard him. With the lightest touch of one of the antiseptic pads, Marinette let out a small hiss through her teeth as she tried not to pull away.

"I know it hurts," Chat mumbled softly to her, his voice lined with sympathy. He had cleaned his own wounds plenty of times in the past because it was part of the job. It was his job to take the hits, not Ladybug's... _not_   _Marinette's_.

Silently, Chat patched up the gash on Marinette's body. Once he was done, Marinette lifted a hand to his cheek. He looked up at her wearing a worried expression on his face.

"Thanks, Chaton," she said with a smile, her voice sounding a bit more sturdy. Chat nodded, hesitantly lifting a hand of his own before letting one of his clawed fingers gently swipe back her bangs. The small sign of affection caused the lightest shade of pink to stain Marinette's cheeks. Chat looked down at his partner and wondered why he had never realized just how amazing his classmate truly was.

"I should let you get rest now,  _purrincess_ ," Chat purred before giving her a tiny smirk. The sun had set while he was bandaging her up.

His heart fluttered at the sound of her quiet laughter, but as he made the slightest movement to leave her hand gripped his forearm.

"Will you stay, Chat? Just little while longer," Marinette asked. Her bright blue eyes filled with hope stared up at him as she waited for his answer. Chat's heart began to pound as he found himself getting lost at sea in those ocean blue eyes.

"As you wish, my lady," he replied in a whisper. Slowly, he lifted one her hands to his lips as he placed a feather light kiss to her knuckles.


	2. Chapter 2

"Chat?" Marinette whispered, looking up at him as she broke the silence in the room.

She sat propped up against her oversized cat plush with her hands spread ever so gently across her stomach, while Chat sat adjacent to her with his back resting against the wall and his legs crossed over atop Marinette's. Chat was a bit hesitant at first about being so physically close to his good friend in such an intimate setting without her knowing his identity, but she just looked so comfortable. Plus, it wasn't like they hadn't sat like this plenty of times before late at night above the rooftops of Paris.

Chat's cat ears perked up in attention at the sound of his name.

"I want to let you know I'm sorry," Marinette apologized softly with a slight look of shame. Chat's brows furrowed in confusion. Marinette had tried to avoid the guilty feeling building up inside her, but she couldn't ignore it any longer.

"It's ok, Marinette. Accidents happen. The most important thing is that you're ok," Chat replied with a genuine smile, subconsciously letting his Adrien personality shine through the Chat persona.

"No, that's not it," Marinette replied with a tiny shake of her head, "I'm sorry if I ruined your image of Ladybug. I...I know she meant a lot to you. I just thought I would've had more time to prepare for this so you wouldn't be disappointed," she confessed, her voice slowly growing quieter with each word.

"What are you talking about?" Chat asked, his tone slightly hardening. He sat up straighter to get a good look at her face despite her downward gaze.

Marinette gave a slight shrug before forcing herself to look up at him.

"You've probably had this picture perfect idea of the girl behind Ladybug's mask for awhile, and now that you finally know who she is, it's a letdown," Marinette answered, lifting one corner of her lips in a forced, insincere grin.

Chat stared at her in disbelief. Had Marinette always thought so poorly of herself? Sure, the first few months of their friendship things were a bit...awkward, but as time passed, Marinette became one of the most confident people he ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Slightly reaching over, Chat gingerly took one of Marinette's hands into his as he wrapped his clawed fingers around her palm.

"Do I look disappointed to you?" Chat asked, staring into her worried gaze. Marinette blinked for a second before looking down at their joined hands then back up to him.

"I...well, I-uh," she stammered, something Marinette hadn't done in quite some time. She then cleared her throat before trying again.

"Since I became Ladybug, I've struggled with trying to live up to everyone's expectations of her. You're one of the most important people in my life, Chat, and I just didn't want to let you down."

"The only thing that's disappointing to me, princess, is finding out how negatively you view yourself," Chat answered, taking Marinette by surprise. Slowly, he inched himself closer to her, leaning in to get a better view of her face.

"I've had the  _pleasurrre_ ," Chat purred, "of getting to know Marinette outside of her mask," he winked. "And through all our interactions, I've discovered she's a trustworthy, brave, clever, and might I add, beautiful girl," Chat said charmingly, lifting her hand to his lips for a gentle kiss.

Despite her playful eyeroll, Marinette let out a lighthearted giggle which immediately caused her to gasp out in pain and pull her hand from Chat's so she could cradle her stomach. Chat pulled his hand back in fear of causing the girl even more discomfort.

"You really should lay back and get some sleep, Bug," Chat advised before removing his legs from over hers. In the process of trying to make Marinette more comfortable, Chat slid up next to her where he was now also leaning against the plush white cat. As he moved to make his exit, Marinette grabbed hold of his hand causing him to instantly halt. Chat looked back to her with a worried glance.

"I'm ok," she reassured, "but I also went through a lot today, Chat, and I really enjoy having you here. I know I tease you quite a bit, but having you around really does comfort me," she confessed before giving him a sweet smile.

Chat felt the breath catch in his throat as he sat in awe of the beautiful girl beside him. He couldn't believe he had been friends for so long with the girl of his dreams and never even noticed. Man, he felt stupid.

Quickly shaking off the momentary spell he was under, Chat regained his composure with a confident grin before turning on his side and making himself cozy next to Marinette.

The two remained in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's presence until Chat's thoughts began to wander back to the picture frames on Marinette's desk.

"So, Bugaboo," Chat began with a mischievous grin, "I couldn't help but notice the pictures on your desk," he started. To his surprise, a dreamy look quickly flashed upon Marinette's face before she quickly blinked it away.

"Yeah, those are my friends from school," she replied fondly, turning her head to face him while keeping the rest of her body still. Chat lifted his index finger to his chin in a thinking gesture.

"Hmm," he hummed, "you know, I couldn't help but notice some blonde guy was lucky enough to make the cut for each picture. It's almost as if you're showing favoritism,  _princess_ ," Chat pondered with a teasing grin and a raised eyebrow. Marinette's cheeks instantly burned a bright red.

"That's Adrien, he's a boy friend of mine - well, not like  _boyfriend_ , but a friend who happens to be a boy. Not that you couldn't tell he was a boy - he's a friend of mine," Marinette quickly rambled before groaning and placing her hand over her face in exasperation. It had been so long since she struggled with her words in such a manner that she decided to blame it on the exhaustion.

"Anyway," she cleared her throat, regaining her composure, "what's the matter,  _kitty_? Afraid of a little competition?" Marinette teased as she lifted her hand to flick the bell around his neck. Chat's grin only grew.

"You could say that," he replied casually causing Marinette to giggle again, being slightly more cautious this time.

"Well there's nothing to worry about there," Marinette noted as her smile began to fade. Chat's brows furrowed as he felt a lump beginning to form in his throat.

"It's silly," Marinette began again. She looked up out her skylight, not wanting Chat to see how much she actually cared about what she was about to confess.

"Adrien and I didn't start off on the right foot," she said, letting out a small amused laugh, "but after that I developed the  _biggest_  crush on him. I mean, it was to the point where I couldn't even form a coherent sentence in front of the guy."

Realization hit Chat like a brick wall. It finally made sense. All that time he spent assuming Marinette was just starstruck by the fact he was the son of her favorite designer, or the occasional moments when he wondered if she flat out hated him...it was just because she had a crush on him.

"But then our two best friends started dating, Alya and Nino, and they set it up to where all four of us would hang out. Then the stuttering and rambling just faded," Marinette said, smiling proudly to herself over such an accomplishment.

"So, if you can properly speak to him now, why shouldn't I worry?" Chat asked, trying his best to keep up the playful demeanor all while freaking out on the inside. His eyes never left her face as she spoke.

"I've known Adrien for almost four years now, and not once has he ever looked at me in any way other than a friend," Marinette whispered before turning her face back towards Chat and giving him a sad smile.

"Did you try telling him how you feel?" Chat countered wearing a serious expression. Marinette let out a bitter chuckle.

"So many times, but I always stumbled over my words and made a fool of myself. It's too late now though."

Chat's heart dropped. He was kicking himself on the inside for not noticing her crush before. It literally took her confession to her masked partner for him to figure out she had feelings for him.

"I feel like Adrien and I are such good friends now. I love having him in my life even if it's not romantically, and I'm scared if I were to ever tell him how I felt then things would change. I'm ok with how things are now," Marinette said softly as her smile began to return.

"Plus, over the years I've had this annoying stray black cat that  _will not_  just leave me alone," she teased with a flirtatious grin.

Chat stared at her in disbelief. He felt like his brain was temporarily out of service. Marinette,  _his lady_ , had just confessed that she cared for Adrien so much that she would rather keep her feelings bottled up than lose his friendship. Then... _to him_...it sounded like she was finally admitting that Chat had found a special place in her heart as well.

Taking her hand gently into his, Chat interlaced their fingers. Marinette, in return, gave his hand a light squeeze as she looked into his eyes.

"I want to show you who I am," Chat whispered, taking Marinette by complete surprise. "I know you've been against the idea, but it's something I feel needs to be done, m'lady."

Marinette stared at him with wide eyes before taking a long blink. She looked back up at him again and gave him a small nod in agreement.

"Ok," she whispered. Chat opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly stopped.

"Wait-" Marinette rushed before ever so slowly forcing herself to roll onto her side so they were now face to face.

"Not tonight," she began in the softest of voices, "whether you want to admit it or not, things will clearly change once we both know each other's identity. Tonight, I just want you to be my Chaton; no one else."

Marinette reached up with her free hand and lightly traced the edges of the mask along his cheekbone with her thumb. Chat leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers, letting out a soft purr at her touch.

"Tomorrow, you can reveal yourself to me whenever and however you want, deal?" Marinette whispered. Chat nodded.

"Deal."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I might have one more chapter in me to do Adrien's reveal. It might take me a few days due to my schedule but keep your eye out for it ;)


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Marinette woke to her phone alarm going off, finding herself alone in bed. Rubbing the sleep from her eye, she realized she must have fallen asleep to Chat's purring after their conversation about his identity reveal.

Her stomach was still bandaged up, and truth be told, sleep did not help ease the pain whatsoever. With a groan and a supportive hand to her stomach, she forced herself to crawl out of bed so she could shower and get ready for the day.

For the first time in forever, Marinette wasn't running late for school despite the circumstances. During her walk that morning, she allowed her thoughts to wander to Chat Noir. Her palms began to grow clammy as the idea of him revealing his identity to her crossed her mind.

So lost in her daydream, Marinette didn't even notice her best friend waiting on her at the crosswalk in front of their school.

"Hey girl! Earth to Marinette!" Alya called, waving her hand in front of Marinette's face. With a few rapid blinks, Marinette shook her head and turned towards Alya with a small giggle.

"Sorry, was just daydreaming," Marinette explained, hoping Alya wouldn't ask too many questions.

"What's up with that, girl? I thought you were happy with everything as of now?" Alya questioned as the two girls made their way to the courtyard. Marinette clutched the strap to her bag as she took cautious but quick steps to keep up with her friend.

"Uhh," Marinette thought aloud, "I guess old habits die hard?" she suggested. Before Alya could respond, the two girls heard someone shout in their direction.

"Hey, dudettes!" Nino called out as he and Adrien made their way over. Nino greeted his girlfriend with a kiss on the cheek before he and Alya separated themselves from their friends by a few steps.

"Good morning, Marinette," Adrien smiled warmly, "how are you feeling today?" he asked curiously as he moved in a bit closer to her. Marinette, clearly aware of his close proximity, blushed as she racked her brain for an answer.

"I've - uh - been better. Not that I'm not ok," she reassured, subconsciously letting her hand drift towards her stomach before forcing herself to lower it again, "I'm good. How about you? I noticed you were missing from the group text yesterday," she commented, wanting to get the topic off herself.

"Oh, yeah," Adrien countered as he momentarily rubbed the back of his neck, "had to make up a missed piano lesson so I couldn't check my phone, and by the time I was done with that and homework I was just wiped," he explained.

As they spoke, the four made their way into the classroom. Nino and Alya took their normal seats as Marinette and Adrien continued talking, standing next to Nino and Adrien's shared desk.

"Well, at least you're all caught up now," Marinette smiled but before she could voice her next thought, Kim and Alix zoomed into the classroom. After all their years of friendship the competitive nature between them had never faltered, and it seemed like this morning they decided to race to their seats before class.

As the two competitors zoomed by, Kim accidently struck Marinette's shoulder just enough to knock her into the nearest desk, her stomach taking the brunt of the fall. Marinette inhaled sharply as her hands grabbed the edges of the desk for support. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to ignore the searing pain, but it was too much.

"Marinette," Adrien worriedly gasped, placing his hand gently on her back in a comforting gesture.

"Hey, you two knock it off! You nearly killed Marinette!" Alya shouted to the pair who now sat in their seats towards the back of the classroom.

Marinette, though, couldn't hear her best friend scolding the classmates; nor could she hear the slightly panicked concerns of Adrien next to her. All she could hear was a loud ringing in her ears as her body racked with pain.

Adrien, with his hand still resting on Marinette's back, looked up to find Alya and Nino staring at him with confusion. Although Marinette had been knocked into the table, to the people watching, it wasn't with enough force to cause such a reaction from her.

Adrien, on the other hand, knew exactly why she was struggling to breath and shaking in excruciating pain.

"Come on, Marinette, I'll help you walk it off," Adrien encouraged softly. Placing his free hand on her shoulder while the other remained on her back, Adrien slowly inched Marinette into a standing position before pulling her into his side for a supportive embrace.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! I started feeling bad about not having the next chapter up as quickly as I'd like, so I just wanted to post a little bit for y'all. I hope you like it, and the next post will be the last chapter! Enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

Slowly, Adrien helped Marinette take baby steps out into the hallway; each step becoming steadier than her last.

"Thank you, Adrien," Marinette said between labored breaths. "I guess I just had the wind knocked out of me."

The corner of Adrien's lips twitched slightly as he fought off a knowing smirk, but now definitely wasn't a time for teasing grins. Instead, he looked down to give her a worried frown.

"Maybe you should take the morning off, Marinette. You seemed pretty rattled," he noted, hoping she would take his advice. In all honesty, he was surprised to see her at school in the first place with how badly her stomach was injured from the previous day, but Marinette had always been the stubborn one.

"No, no, I'm fine," she reassured with a forced smile as she inched out of his embrace. Adrien fought the urge to pull her back into his arms, knowing his sudden movement might be considered overstepping some boundaries while in his civilian form.

"Are you sure?" he asked with one of his hands hovering awkwardly over her shoulder, ready to embrace her if she needed the support. Marinette looked up at him and gave him a smile that made his heart flutter.

"Really. We should get back to class before we miss roll call," she suggested. Adrien hesitantly agreed.

* * *

Adrien was quick to his feet as class dismissed for lunch. The four friends normally ate together in the park except for the occasional trip to Marinette's whenever her parents had leftover treats.

Reaching down before Marinette was even out of her seat, Adrien picked up her bag and wrapped it around his shoulder. Marinette looked up at him in surprise, cautiously standing from her chair.

"Adrien, what are you doing?" she asked curiously, lifting her hand to retrieve her bag. Without a second thought, Adrien cupped her hand with his before instantly freezing in place. He mentally slapped himself for getting lost so easily in his Chat persona, and reluctantly let her hand drop.

"I, uh, figured you might like some help carrying your things. You know, incase you were still sore from earlier," Adrien sheepishly admitted while a very uncharacteristic red tint stained his cheeks. Marinette stared at him with a blank stare on her face. For a split second, her long time crush had reminded her of someone she knew all too well. Quickly forcing herself to shake away those thoughts, Marinette returned his gesture with a warm smile.

"Thank you. That'd be great," she answered while their two best friends watched on from afar with excited grins.

* * *

 

"Want to have lunch at my place today? Papa made a few extra macarons, and I know he would be thrilled if we could take them off his hands," Marinette giggled as the group discussed their plans for lunch. It didn't take much convincing after that for everyone to agree, but secretly, her cut had begun aching even more and Marinette wanted to go home to take some medicine for the pain.

* * *

 

While her friends grabbed a few plates of macarons, Marinette snuck up to her room to take her medicine.

"Hey, why don't we eat up here today?" Alya suggested as she peeked her head through the trapdoor that led into Marinette's room. Quickly, Marinette shoved her medicine back into her dresser drawer before turning around to face her friend.

"Alya's right, we rarely ever hang out up here anymore," Nino agreed as he and Adrien followed.

The three friends made themselves comfortable in Marinette's cozy room. Alya sat in the desk chair with Nino sitting in the floor next to her using her legs as a backrest. Adrien took the opportunity to sit on the chaise lounge leaving a space open next to him.

As Marinette looked back and forth between her friends, she caught Adrien's eye. He smiled brightly at her before patting the empty space on the lounge next to him. A faint blush flashed across Marinette's face as she made her way over to sit beside him.

"Marinette, how are you feeling?" Adrien whispered next to her ear so only she could hear him. Marinette's heart rate began to race as she looked up at him with wide eyes. After all their time as friends, how could he still manage to have such an effect on her? She forced herself to take a deep breath before answering.

"I'm ok," she replied in a soft tone to match his. Adrien lowered his face closer to hers so he could hear her properly. Without saying another word, he stared into Marinette's bright blue eyes just like he had done the night before while they were cuddled together in her bed. His cheeks began to flush as thoughts of the previous night began to invade his mind.

"Marinette-"

" _Marinette-_ " Adrien whispered at the same time Alya called her name.

The two quickly broke apart as Alya's voice shattered the silent spell between them. They both looked her way to find Alya examining the items on top of Marinette's desk.

"It's nice to see you finally put pictures in the frames I gave you," Alya teased as she looked back to her friend. Marinette let out a small giggle.

"I know," she admitted sheepishly before slowly standing to walk over to the desk. To her surprise, Adrien followed.

"It just took me awhile to find the right pictures I wanted," Marinette confessed. She looked down fondly at her favorite pictures of her friends while taking a macaron from Alya's plate.

"Look Nino, we made the cut for two of the three," Alya exclaimed with a sly grin. Marinette's heart dropped to her stomach. She wondered if Adrien would notice he was in all her pictures. Chat sure enough cared to notice.

"Only two out of the three?  _Dude_ , Marinette, I thought we were your friends," Nino teased before taking a bite of his lunch.

"Well at least  _one of us_  made the cut for all three," Alya stated, her eyes mischievously narrowing as her grin grew. Marinette quickly let out a nervous chuckle, but her eyes squinted in a warning glare at her best friend. Alya playfully raised her eyebrows in a silent reply.

"Wait, I was lucky enough to make it into all three of the pictures," Adrien said as he moved closer to Marinette so he could look over her shoulder at the frames. His chest was now almost completely pressed against Marinette's back.

Of course, Adrien already knew exactly what pictures Alya were referring to, but as he played along a clever idea popped into his head.

"Marinette,  _why is_  Adrien lucky enough to be in every picture?" Alya questioned with faux ignorance. If Marinette's face wasn't pink before, it was definitely burning red now.

"Yeah, it's almost as if... _you're showing favoritism, princess_ ," Adrien whispered softly into Marinette's ear from behind her. Instantly an inaudible gasp escaped Marinette's mouth as she twirled around to find Adrien staring down at her with a smirk on his face.

Their faces were only inches apart as Marinette stared at him. Adrien gave her a wink only she could see before all the color drained from her face.

" _You_ ," Marinette whispered to herself. Adrien's smirk grew into a grin as he raised an eyebrow playfully at her. Another gasp escaped from Marinette's throat as she took a reflexive step backwards, bumping into her desk and making her picture frames topple down.

"Marinette, are you ok?" Alya asked in concern.

"Uh, yeah! No, wait, no! Actually I feel pretty sick. You all might need to leave before you catch it!" Marinette exclaimed in a panic as she grabbed both Alya and Nino's hand and began shoving them towards the trapdoor.

"But what about Adrien?" Nino asked, reaching for one last macaron. Marinette quickly granted his request, shoving two macarons in his hands before lifting the trapdoor.

"You know, I've been feeling quite under the weather myself. Perhaps I should stay to keep Marinette company," Adrien thought aloud as he rubbed the back of his neck. Alya and Nino paused before looking at one another with a knowing grin.

"Sure. Just call us later. Hope you two feel better soon," Alya said before giving her friend a wink and rushing her boyfriend out of the room.

* * *

 

Once Alya and Nino were gone, Marinette turned back to Adrien. The look on her face was hard for Adrien to read. He couldn't quite tell if she was angry or in shock.

"What-" Marinette began, but her voice cracked. Clearing her throat, she began once more.

"What was that about?" she asked suspiciously as she took slow, cautious steps back towards the blonde boy in her room. Adrien grinned at her skeptic demeanor.

"Whatever do you mean, Marinette?" he asked playfully. Marinette stopped in her tracks, a few inches short of being face to face with him.

"Earlier with the pictures. What you said about favoritism and whatnot," she babbled out quickly. Adrien's smile grew once more as he filled the space between them. Silently, he took one of her hands into his. Marinette's breath caught in her throat as she watched his every move.

"I can't help it if you're partial to favoritism, m'lady," Adrien whispered before placing a light kiss upon her knuckles. Marinette's eyes widened in realization as she snatched her hand out of his. She stared at him in a silent disbelief.

"...Chat?" she whispered so softly Adrien had to strain his ears just to hear. An excited grin spread across his face before he bowed in front of her.

"At your service,  _purrincess_ ," he replied, looking up at her through his bangs before standing upright again.

Marinette felt like she was going to pass out. Her long time crush was the same guy who had been pining after her alter ego for years.

"...How?" Marinette barely managed to ask, still in shock. Adrien took a few steps to fill the gap between them once more. He lifted a hand to affectionately stroke her bangs back from her eyes.

"We're just lucky, I guess," he smirked. With that, a tiny black cat kwami flew out of Adrien's shirt pocket and into Marinette's bag where her own kwami still rested. Marinette continued staring in her silent shock until she forced herself to take a long blink, mentally absorbing all the new information.

"So, last night-?" she began, unsure of what she even wanted to ask. Adrien looked down at her fondly, moving his hand from her hair to now rest gently on her hip.

"Last night I bandaged you up," he began in a whisper while his thumb lightly traced circles near Marinette's injury, "and stayed with you until you fell asleep in my arms."

Still staring up at him in awe, Marinette slowly lifted one of her hands towards Adrien's hair. Very carefully, she brushed her fingers through his hair until it resembled the look of her beloved partner. In that moment, all her nervousness seemed to disappear as a wide grin spread across her face.

"Hello, Chaton," she whispered. Butterflies formed in Adrien's stomach as he wore a matching smile. He slowly leaned forward to press his forehead against hers like he had done the night before.

"M'lady," Adrien greeted, his nose brushing against hers before he ever so carefully pressed his lips against hers. They had done it. They had finally found one another.

* * *

A/N: Thank you everyone so much for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it!


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